The event featured comments from Massachusetts Life Sciences Center President & CEO Susan Windham-Bannister, Good Start Genetics President & CEO Don Hardison, and N. Stephen Ober, Executive Director of Business Incubation at Boston University.
“We congratulate Good Start Genetics on their success in leveraging our Accelerator loan into substantial private capital,” said Windham-Bannister. “We created this loan program in order to de-risk promising early-stage companies and make them more attractive to private investors. Good Start Genetics demonstrates the success of that approach. Good Start Genetics is a terrific company that is well on its way to making significant contributions to our state’s economy, and to the quality of health care globally. We are pleased to accept their repayment of our loan, and look forward to an ongoing partnership with the team at Good Start Genetics.”
“The Massachusetts Life Science Center's Accelerator loan program was a key resource for Good Start Genetics, allowing the Company to successfully develop our sequencing-based genetic screening platform and pre-pregnancy diagnostic test to a stage where we were able to complete a substantial financing with high caliber venture firms,” said Hardison. “We are grateful to the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center for their support as Good Start Genetics continues to advance ground breaking science into medical practice, providing better resources for physicians and improved care for patients.”
“I am extremely pleased with the scientific and financial success of Good Start Genetics. With early support of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Good Start Genetics joined the Boston University Business Incubator program just over a year ago. In this period they have availed themselves of all our incubator program has to offer, office and biotech laboratory facilities, bright BU students, interaction with other incubator entrepreneurs and mentorship. Good Start Genetics has been the perfect partner for us,” said Dr. Ober.
“This demonstrates the importance of our state’s Life Sciences Initiative and the progress being made in expanding life sciences in Massachusetts,” said State Representative Kevin Honan (D-Brighton), a member of the Legislature’s Biotechnology Caucus. “We have great hope that this sector of the economy will help with our region’s economic recovery.”
The Good Start Genetics pre-pregnancy diagnostic test is based on advanced DNA sequencing technology and is designed to allow physicians to better identify carriers of heritable genetic disorders and enable them to help prospective parents make more knowledgeable medical decisions. The Good Start Genetics diagnostic test is expected to offer higher detection rates, which will provide physicians greater accuracy and improved clinical performance compared with currently available screening methods, such as genotyping and SNP analysis. The Company expects to launch its test exclusively through board certified physicians in U.S. fertility clinics starting in 2011.
About Good Start Genetics, Inc.
Good Start Genetics provides the most clinically relevant genetic information to physicians. The company’s affordable pre-pregnancy test, which was developed by the Company for use in its CLIA-certified laboratory, utilizes an advanced DNA sequencing technology to screen for a panel of genetic disorders including those recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American College of Medical Genetics (ACMG). For more information, please visit www.gsgenetics.com.
About the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center
The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (“the Center”) is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts tasked with implementing the Massachusetts Life Sciences Act, a ten-year, $1 billion initiative that was signed into law in June of 2008. The Center’s mission is to create jobs in the life sciences and support vital scientific research that will improve the human condition. This work includes making financial investments in public and private institutions that are advancing life sciences research, development and commercialization as well as building ties between sectors of the Massachusetts life sciences community. For more information, visit www.masslifesciences.com.
About the Life Sciences Accelerator Program
In order to expand life sciences-related employment opportunities, promote health-related innovations and stimulate research and development, manufacturing and commercialization in the life sciences, the Life Sciences Accelerator Program provides loans to companies engaged in life sciences research and development, commercialization and manufacturing in Massachusetts. Target entities are generally early-stage life sciences companies with a high-potential for technology commercialization, rapid growth, and downstream private equity financing. The program is designed to help sustain these companies through a critical stage of development and to leverage additional sources of capital to bring cutting edge innovation to the marketplace.
About the Boston University Business Incubator
Located on the Charles River Campus and managed by the Office of Technology Development, Boston University’s Business Incubator hosts up to fifteen technology start-up companies. The mix of companies includes Life Sciences, Bio-tech, Medical Devices, Photonics, Clean Energy and Engineering. Companies originate from within BU or from outside of BU. All companies are engaged in commercializing new technologies of importance to society and all contribute to BU’s mission to educate students in entrepreneurial management.
Financing for incubator companies is from leading venture capital firms, accredited angel investors, corporate and government sources. All companies in the incubator are held to the highest professional standards in the industry of new technology ventures. For more information, visit http://www.bu.edu/otd/for-industrybusiness-incubation.
